United Kingdom, Cambridge - 10/08/2019 — Cambridge UK & Makkah Saudi Arabia. Makkah Clock Royal Tower, a Fairmont hotel, and Raffles Makkah Palace, have selected Tactful AI’s Cognitive Contact Center solution to transform all customer engagements using AI. The solution will employ cutting-edge AI technology to help the two premium hotels become much closer and responsive to their guests across their digital channels. Makkah Clock Royal Tower and Raffles Makkah Palace guests will now provide an AI assistant that supports their guests throughout their stay with a range of services including:

Exploring all available services and finding prompt answers to any questions,

At Makkah Clock Royal Tower, our guests are coming from all around the world to enjoy the unique and spiritual experience in the Holy City of Makkah; we believe our mission is to let them enjoy their special journey while we provide them with our premium services. The use of Tactful AI technology will help us take this experience to the next level and become much closer and reachable to our guests than we have ever been.

Raffles Makkah Palace is built to be one of the most luxurious and welcoming hotels in the world. Our 5-star experience is evident in everything we do including the comprehensive amenities and all of the premium hospitality services we offer. Our aim is to turn our customers' journeys into an exceptional experience and we believe using Tactful AI technology can help us achieve this.

According to PwC, AI is a big game-changer and has a great value potential that is up for grabs. AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined. In the Middle East, big shifts are taking place as governments and businesses embrace full AI deployment, estimated at a value of $320bn for the Middle East.

At Tactful we believe great technologies are the ones that remove barriers and create new opportunities. Tactful is built to create new bonds and long-lasting relationships between businesses and their clients. Our AI technology helps businesses understand their customers better and become much more relevant and helpful than ever. We are proud of our unique approach of enabling fast AI adoption at scale without our customers needing to deal with any backend complications.

The bespoke AI solution will be initially deployed on the WhatsApp Business channel of each hotel but, in the future, it will be deployed on other digital channels as well to ensure consistency and availability on any touch-points the guest prefers.

Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the Middle East at the UK’s Department for International Trade, Simon Penney, said:

We are delighted to see yet another example of a mutually-beneficial partnership between a UK technology company and a leading business in the Gulf. The UK has a competitive advantage in AI, with some of the world’s most innovative AI companies based in the country and a rich ecosystem of investors, employers, developers and clients. Given that AI is at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030, we anticipate many more opportunities for collaboration.

Abdallah added:

In the hospitality sector, we see great benefits of using AI in various aspects of the business including customer experience as well as the automation of processes. We also know that the best marketing we can do is to provide our guests with exceptional service and build a strong relationship with them. We believe using Tactful AI technology won’t only help us connect with our customers, we will also be able to understand their needs and always deliver the experience they are expecting from us.

About Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower

Makkah Clock Royal Tower, a Fairmont hotel, offers unmatched hospitality and the ultimate, exclusive hotel experience. Fairmont Gold offers our discerning guests the privilege of selecting rooms that offer unrivalled views of either the Kaaba, Haram or to The Holy City of Makkah.

About Raffles Makkah Palace

Raffles Makkah Palace is an exclusive all-suite hotel with astonishing views of the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba, drawing inspiration from the heritage, culture, and faith of the Middle East.

About Tactful AI

Tactful is an AI startup based in the city of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. Tactful offers AI-powered and data-centric customer engagement technology. Unlike traditional contact center and helpdesk solutions that only optimize the workload, Tactful uses AI and real-time analytics to provide a 360-view of the customer and empower customer care agents to deliver personalized and rewarding experiences to their customers across multiple digital platforms.